Can't Let Go
by Notreadytoletgo
Summary: He awoke with dread in his eyes.." This is my first fanfic so be nice..Don't write it off cos it's so short either.Better than it looks, I suck at summaries.D/L.CHAPTER 15 UP!
1. He can't let go

He awoke with dread in his eye and prayed that she couldn't see it when she looked up at him

He awoke with dread in his eyes and prayed that she couldn't see it last night when she looked at him with those big brown eyes.

He knew it was going to be tough but he had to do it even if it broke his heart.

Even if it broke hers.

Because it was for the best and he was doing it to save her.

Because a broken heart mends better than a failing one.

It was time to begin. He knew what he had to do

He took one last look at her peaceful face...

Even when she slept she smiled, not a grin but the corners of her mouth curled up. She was content. And that was about to change.

He took in every last detail of her the way her hair fell over her shoulders. The way her nose scrunched up when she thought about something...

And her smile, he loved her smile. He had to see it one last time. But he knew he couldn't wake her, because then he wouldn't be able to let go.

He gently detangled himself from underneath her.

He thanked God that she was a deep sleeper and wouldn't hear him leave.

He got dressed and prepared to leave, all the while staring at her, his Montana.

This was harder than he thought.

He grabbed his keys and made his way through her apartment, stopping at the photograph they got taken at the Police Department Black and White Ball.

He took it in his hands and smiled at the memory, he was making Lindsay laugh, he can't even remember what it was he said, but whatever it was had made him laugh too.

Before he knew what was happening a small tear fell onto the frame, and they another and then another.

The tears distorting both his and Lindsay's faces.

He took the frame and hid it beneath his coat he was being selfish taking it but he needed to know that he would be able to see her smile when he got home.

Now was the hard part, he grabbed a pen and some paper and began to write.

_Montana, I love you, always have and always will, p__lease forgive me for this. _Danny scribbled the note out, he couldn't call her that anymore. She wasn't his. He couldn't tell her he loved her, she wouldn't let him go if she knew.

He began the note again.

_Lindsay,_

_I know by now you will have already freaked out. This isn't working for me anymore._

Danny paused to brush away the tears that were now falling steadily.

_This hasn't felt right for a while. I don't love you, I never did. You were just someone I had to have because I couldn't. But now I've had you, there's nothing left._

_I'll see you around._

By now Danny was crying silently, not even trying to stop them falling. He set the note down on her counter in front of the coffee machine, where he knew she would find it. He walked over to the door and opened it, and taking one last look around the apartment he closed it behind him, still clutching onto the photo he couldn't let go, not completely anyway.

A/N Please review, even if it's constructive critisism because I do have other chapters written if you want me to go on, but no reviews, no chapters. Thank you hands out cookies ..


	2. All of three seconds

Lindsay awoke to find the other side of her bed empty

Lindsay awoke to find the other side of her bed empty.

'_That's odd'_ she thought, Danny had a day off today...

'_Maybe he's making the coffee'_

It took her a while to rub the sleep from her eyes before she finally swung her legs out of bed.

She grimaced as her sensitive feet hit her cold apartment floor.

She let her mind wander over the past few weeks. He made her happy, no doubt about that, and things were going great, she was beginning to think she may have tamed the wild playboy that was Danny Messer.

She made her way into the kitchen, expecting to find him in standing there facing the coffee machine, maybe singing, like he sometimes did.

But what she actually saw was a whole different story.

No Danny, not even his coat, no evidence to suggest he's even spent the night.

'_He normally wakes me if he gets called into work.' _

Lindsay shrugged and walked to the counter. Lying there on the coffee jug was a note.

_Lindsay, _It began. As she read it her eyes got wider and tears fell more rapidly.

'_No, this can't be true. He wouldn't do this.' _

Lindsay's mind went into overdrive, '_What did I do?' _

She raced to the phone and dialled the all too familiar number.

3 rings and then voicemail.

She rang Mac at work:

"_Hey...Mac?" _she sniffed once he'd picked up, trying to hide the fact that she was crying. Obviously failing, Mac immediately noticed something was wrong.

"_Lindsay? What's wrong? Isn't it your day off?"_

"_Yeah, I was just wondering, have you seen Danny?"_

Mac looked through his office walls at the young CSI that was pacing the halls, he noticed too that it was Danny's day off.

"_Yeah, he's here, do you know why?__ He's meant to be at home today. He looks miserable."_

"_I have to go." _Lindsay abruptly hung up the phone and got dressed.

She wouldn't believe the letter until the words came out of his mouth.

She practically ran all the way to the Crime Lab and into the elevator.

She stood impatiently waiting for the 34th light to shine...

After what seemed like an eternity the doors pinged open.

She strode out of the elevator in the direction of hers and Danny's shared office.

She stopped, about to storm in and then she saw him looking intently at a photo frame, she couldn't make out the picture, but the frame looked familiar...

Was he crying?

Forgetting about how mad she was she walked quietly into the room.

"_Danny? What's going on?" _she all but whispered.

Danny's head shot up in horror as he shoved the frame into his desk drawer.

"_Lindsay? What are you doing here?"_

"_I came to find you obviously. You going to tell me what's going on?"_

"_I thought my letter made it clear." _Danny replied in a harsher tone than both would've liked.

"_So you meant it?" _Lindsay said as her bottom lip started to tremble.

It took all of Danny's willpower to stop him from leaping out of his chair and taking her in his arms right then and there. To stop himself from kissing away her tears one by one. But he couldn't do that.

He got up from his chair and made his way to the door; he couldn't stay and watch her cry. It broke his heart.

He walked out of the room.

Lindsay wasn't going to give up that easily.

"_DANNY! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" _Lindsay yelled as she followed him into the hall, not caring about the scene she was causing.

Danny spun around to look at her, it was probably better to have the whole lab hear what was going on, maybe then she would give up.

"_It's over Lindsay, get over it, I don't want to see you anymore. I want nothing more to do with you. I'm sick of you."_

Danny tried to ignore the fact that his heart was tearing apart with every lie he spoke and had to turn away before she saw the tears accumulating in his eyes.

Lindsay gasped at the harshness of Danny's words. She didn't want to break down at work. But if she didn't leave now then no-one would be able to stop her. She didn't want to believe him, but he had spoken with such conviction that she had no other choice.

She spun around and practically sprinted into the elevator. It took her all of 13 minutes to get to her apartment and lock the door behind her.

It took her all of 3 seconds for her to collapse on the floor and break into uncontrollable sobs.

A/N I crave reviews so press the purple button, it only takes a second but in return you get a chapter.

I am speechless regarding the amount of reviews I got for such a short chapter, thank you everyone.

Don't worry next chapter we have a bit of Flack and find out a bit of why Danny did this...


	3. The note

Danny entered Sullivan's with only one target, to drink away all the pain he felt right now

Danny entered Sullivan's with only one target, to drink away all the pain he felt right now.

He sat at his usual seat at the bar and asked for the bottle of whiskey and a glass.

Minutes after he had sat down Don Flack came through the door.

He scanned the room and found who he was looking for.

He sat down beside Danny and motioned to the bartender for another glass.

As he reached for the bottle Danny's head snapped up as if only just noticing who was sitting next to him.

"_What are you doing Dan?"_

"_I don't know what you're talking about."_

"_Yes, you do, why did you do that to her, huh? I thought you loved her."_

Danny opened his mouth to protest but promptly closed it again on seeing Dons face. He couldn't lie to his best friend.

"_It's for her own good."_

"_Ok, Danny at some point in this conversation you will have to start to make sense."_

"_She's better off without me!"_

"_That's a load of bull and you know it." _Flack replied in a raised voice.

"_You really want to know what's going on." _Danny reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a piece of paper that looked like it had been folded and opened over and over.

"_What the hell is this?"_

"_Just open it"_

Flack opened the note carefully as if afraid of what he was going to find.

After he read it Flack was fuming.

"_Is this the only one you got?"_

"_No, I have three more all delivered to my home, no address on the envelope so whoever it is has been to my place, I got this one this morning."_

"_Why didn't you tell anyone sooner?"_

"_And risk anyone else getting hurt? No way."_

"_You should have told Lindsay, let her make up her own mind about this."_

"_She would have stayed."_

"_And what's so wrong with that?"_

"_If she had stayed she would've gotton hurt, I'm not going to let her get hurt, and she doesn't deserve that."_

Flack shook his head.

"_So you figured breaking her heart was better than the possibility of her being hurt by someone else?"_

"_Pretty much, yeah."_

Weirdly Flack could see Danny's logic. That was a first.

"_We're going to get this guy Danny,__we'll find out who he is, but before we do, tell Lindsay what's going on, she hasn't been to work in days. She's hurting Danno, and it's your fault, she deserves to know."_

"_I know, I know."_

Danny and Flack proceeded to finish the bottle of whiskey and the note lay on the bar in front of them, not leaving either's thoughts, not leaving either's fears.

It read:

_Danny Messer,_

_I know who you are, what you do, where you live._

_It's your fault my son is dead._

_You won't get away with this, neither will your sweet little Montana._

_She means a lot to you right?_

_Maybe soon you'll know what it's like to lose someone you really care about._

_I'll be watching you…._

_A/N Thanks for all the reviews guys, you're ACE!_

_Next chapter: Stella talks to Lindsay, and will Danny tell her what's going on?_

_Review please, they're my drug…_


	4. He Promised Me Forever

Disclaimer: This is for my other chapters also, I forgot to out one… I do not own CSI:NY or any of the characters, and for the purpose of this chapter, I don't own the song Starts with goodbye, Carrie Underwood sings it…So basically if you sued me all yo

Disclaimer: This is for my other chapters also, I forgot to out one… I do not own CSI:NY or any of the characters, and for the purpose of this chapter, I don't own the song Starts with goodbye, Carrie Underwood sings it…So basically if you sued me all you'd get is a blue crayon I found on the floor on the way home today.

"_Lindsay? Lindsay, I know you're in there, open up!"_ Stella was banging her fist on her best friend's door.

Stella gave up knocking and reached into her purse and pulled out a key from the bottom.

'_Thank god Mac made us make copies of everyone's keys'_

She let herself into the apartment; it took her eyes a few moments to get accustomed to the darkness. All the lights had been turned off, there was a CD playing in the background so quiet that you had to strain your ears to hear it.

_I guess it's gonna have to hurt,  
I guess I'm gonna have to cry,_

Stella walked over to the couch and saw Lindsay sitting cross legged with a blanket draped over her shoulders.

She made her way slowly so that she was standing facing her friend.

Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.

_I guess it's gonna break me down,_

Lindsay's eyes were red and swollen, her face was so pale, she was shaking. She couldn't be shivering; it was so hot in there.

"_Lindsay?" _Stella whispered.

Lindsay's head shot up so that she was looking at Stella.

"_Stella?" _her words were so quiet. "_When did you get here?" _she sounded genuinely confused.

"_I just let myself in kiddo, I was worried about you. We all are."_

"_All of you but Danny."_ Saying his name caused a fresh bout of tears to fall down her cheek.

"_Why did he do it Stell? Why?"_ Lindsay searched Stella's face for the answers, deep down she knew she wasn't going to find.

"_I don't know kiddo, I don't know" _Stella brought Lindsay into a well needed hug.

After ten minutes or so of not speaking, Lindsay broke the silence.

"_I still don't believe it, It's not just that I don't want to, which I don't, there was something in his eyes.__ I can't believe it"_

_Time, time heals,  
The wounds that you feel,  
Somehow, right now._

"_Tell me about the last time you were together." _Stella said, knowing that bringing up memories, would remind Lindsay of the better times she had with Danny, and not the fact that it was now over.

_Lindsay sniffed, "He said he loved me, he promised me forever"_

_Danny and Lindsay were sitting on his couch looking at the TV but not really watching it. She was sitting leaning onto his chest, their fingers entwined._

"_I love you Montana"__ he smiled down on her._

_She looked up, and mirrored his grin._

"_I love you too cowboy, thank you for waiting for me, and giving me time."_

"_That doesn't matter now; we have all the time in the world. We have forever now."_

"_You promise?"_

"_I promise" _

Lindsay looked at Stella, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"_Why didn't he keep his promise? He wouldn't lie to me, he must have believed it. So why did he break it?"_ Before Stella could answer there was a knock at the door…

A/N Thanks again for all the reviews everyone, I am gob smacked by the response I have received, hands out cookies and M&Ms

Press the purple button, I'll love you forever.

Next Chapter: Who's at the door?


	5. More than memories

**Disclaimer: Own nothing, not even the blue crayon, I lost it**

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The knock came again, grabbing both Lindsay and Stella's attention.

"_Lindsay? Lindsay? Are you in there?" _came the unmistakable Staten Island drawl.

Stella looked over at Lindsay who was shaking her head.

"_Don't let him in..." _she whispered.

Stella wanted nothing more than for Danny to just walk in through the door and make everything right again. But seeing Lindsay's face she knew she couldn't go against her wishes.

Danny was standing outside the door, he knew Lindsay was in there, he could hear her CD playing, Carrie Underwood, he'd bought her that. He smiled at the memory. No he wasn't allowed to think like that, to think that memories were all that was left of them. He had to fix this.

"_If you don't let me in now, I'll sit outside this door until you do. And I don't think your neighbours will be too happy with me shout__ing through the door all night."_

Despite herself Lindsay let out a small laugh but promptly stopped when she remembered what he'd said to her at the lab.

Fifteen minutes later Danny was still there, sitting with his back leaning on the door, he couldn't bear the fact that she was hurting and that it was his entire fault. He decided to break the silence that had been hanging in the air since he got there.

"_Lindsay, I'm sorry, I was a jerk and I wouldn't blame you if you never spoke to me again." _Danny paused flinching inwardly at the thought.

"_There was a reason for it, and I need to tell you, face to face, not like this. It's important Lindsay, you need to know." _he continued softly.

Lindsay looked up to see Stella staring at her.

"_What? You think I should just let him in after what he said? You read the note he left, I should just forgive him?"_Lindsay almost shouted.

"_I don't know, I really think he's sorry, and you don't know why he did it. He's offering you answers kid, that's what you wanted wasn't it?" _Stella reasoned.

"_If I let him in, I won't be able to let him go again." _she was crying again.._  
_

"_Maybe you won't have to."_

Danny had his ear against the door and heard every word of the exchange between Stella and his girl. His heart filled with hope. Maybe she would let him in. Maybe, just maybe. Upon hearing her cries, he stood up, ready to kick down the door if he had to. He just wanted to hold her until she cred no more.

Lindsay stood up from the couch, swaying slightly as she walked to the door.

Danny could hear her on the other side of the wood.

"_Lindsay? Please?" he begged._

She opened the door a small fraction, when he saw her face, the remaining held together fractions of his heart snapped. She was a mess, a beautiful mess, but a mess all the same, and it was his fault.

"_I'll let you in if you stop calling me that."_ She whispered.

"_Stop calling you wha…"_ Danny broke off realising what she meant. He allowed himself a small smile.

Lindsay gave him a sad look, one that brought tears to Danny's eyes.

"_Montana? Let me in?"_ he asked one last time.

She gave a small nod and slowly opened the door back into her life.

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**A/N Ok, so I know it's a bit patchy what's going on here. But in the next few chapters there's more about Danny's stalker sorry to keep you guessing. Not who you think though. More reviews please? Was going to reply to all of them individually but then Homework and life in general got in the way. So thank you all, wouldn't keep going without them! :D**


	6. Hold me and don't let go

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**Disclaimer: I don't own CSI:NY or any of it's characters, if I did, we would all know whay's going on with D/L at the moment! Basically I have nothing you want..**

**Thanks to Brinchen86,** **for the beta!(Her stories are ACE btw!:P)  
**

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Danny followed Lindsay into her apartment and walked into Stella in the process.

"_I'm gonna leave you guys to it" _Stella said, halfway through the open door. _"Call me if you need anything ok?" _she looked in Lindsay's direction, and for good measure threw Danny a look that said _"Watch it, cos if you hurt her again, you'll pay."_

Danny nodded grimly and watched as Stella left the apartment.

"_You have a lot of explaining to do __Danny; don't just think I'll let you back in my life without any justification for what you did." _Lindsay said quietly.

"_I know I do. I just need to think of where to begin." _Danny stopped and saw the look on Lindsay's face. _"Ok, well here goes._

_About a month ago I received this anonymous note through my door, it was threatening but nothing personal, ya know, no names or anything on it, so I just forgot about it. But then last week, the day before… the day before I… left." _Danny's voice broke as he remembered the hurtful words he had written. It must have hurt her so much.

He looked up and sure enough Lindsay's eyes were filling with tears.

"_Baby, please don't cry." _

"_You haven't been here to stop me crying in the past few days so why should I stop now? Tell me more about the note..."_

Danny wanted to stop, and to tell her that everything was going to be ok, but he had started and he couldn't stop now, for her, he had to tell the truth, even if the truth ended up with the both of them in trouble.

He took a deep breath and handed the note that had plagued his nightmares over to the girl that haunted his dreams.

Lindsay took the note with shaking hands and turned on the light to read it.

Both flinched at the sudden burst of light that fell into the previously darkened room.

Lindsay read the note with wide eyes.

"_This is why you broke it off." _She stated more than asked.

"_I didn't want to see you get hurt and know it was my fault."_

"_Why did you come back to me?"_ she asked, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

"_Besides the fact that I couldn't face you hating me? I'm selfish, I know that keeping you in my life could put you in great danger, or not, I mean we don't even know who wrote this yet. But I need you, without you I'm nothing. __I can't get to sleep without you next to me. I can't even go to my apartment anymore because everything reminds me of you. The shampoo you left in my shower. The teabags you bought in my cupboard. The clothes you left in my wardrobe. Everything. I love you. "_

Danny ended his tirade, never taking his eyes off her face. By now the tears were steadily falling down both of their faces.

"_Why didn't you just tell me about the note straight away? I would have helped you through this."_

"_Would have? Does that mean you won't now?"_

"_Danny, you humiliated me in front of everyone we work with. You made me think I was a worthless piece of crap, you made me think that everything you ever said to me was a lie."_

Danny stood there, words unable to form in his mouth.

"_I know, I screwed up Linds, just please forgive me, please say we can work though this, please? I will go into work tomorrow and call a meeting telling everyone how stupid I was for saying what I did; I will do anything, please?"_

Lindsay looked into Danny's eyes looking for affirmation of whether what he just said was true. There it was the sparkle she was looking for. He was telling the truth.

"_I__ can forgive you, I can, but forgetting will be harder. But I will let you back in, because I love you, no matter how hard I tried not to, I do."_

Danny's heart once again filled with hope, hope that they could go back to the way they were, but before he could so much as hug his Montana she spoke.

"_Any idea who sent you the note?"_

"_Plenty of people who might have something against me but I don't remember killing anyone's son. Unless..."_

Lindsay could see his mind wandering back to the bodega robbery, no, he couldn't go back there, he was doing so well, it wasn't his fault.

"_Danny, don't go there, come back, don't go back to that moment, you did what was right. It's not your fault, Ruben wasn't your fault. Although, Rikki might think so. Do you think she sent the note?"_

"_I don't know maybe. I mean … wait...no she couldn't have..."_

"_What makes you so sure?"_

"_All the notes are dated, see?" _Danny pointed to the date in the corner of the paper.

"_The first one dates back to before Ruben and the second was the day before__... so it can't be her."_

"_Who dates a threatening note?" _asked Lindsay, confused.

"_I __don't know, maybe it's a compulsive thing. My dad used to date everything from shopping lists to notes on the fridge. It was just something he had to do." _Danny replied.

Both stood there in the semi-darkness thinking.

"_We can think about this more in the morning, we'll take the notes to the lab, dust them for prints, epithelia's anything that might lead us to whoever sent them. " _ Lindsay stated "_I'm too tired to think any more."_

Danny smiled at her use of the word "we" but tried to cover his excitement. Apparently this didn't go unnoticed.

"_Why are you smiling?" _

"_You said we..." _Danny replied as though it was the most obvious thing ever.

"_I said I would help you through this, and I am, you got a problem with that cowboy?"_

Danny's smile widened at her use of his nickname.

"_No problems here Montana! I should leave you to get some sleep; I'll see you at the lab tomorrow?"_

Lindsay nodded her head sadly, and began to cry again. Silently.

Danny noticing this rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug.

"_Sshhh, why are you crying? Please don'__t cry baby, no more tears."_

"_I don't want to be alone. I've spent the last few nights alone without you; I don't want to do it anymore."_

Danny's heart skipped a beat, was she asking him to stay?

"_Montana? If you want I can crash on the couch."_ he said, not wanting to immediately assume she's want him to share her bed.

Lindsay looked up at him through teary eyes. Silently she took his hand and led him through to the bedroom. She got into bed and motioned for Danny to do the same.

"_Just hold me Danny, hold me and don't let me go."_

Danny nodded and took her in his arms determined that he wouldn't let anything tear them apart ever again.

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**A/N: I can not stop saying how overwhelmed I am with the response to this sotry so thank you all for reviewing and adding this to their alerts lists. So now you know that Rikki is not the stalker, I wanted to do something different and I figured it was a good twist seeing as that was who everyone thought it was, I'm cruel like that!:D Next Chapter: Back at the lab!**

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	7. Wait and see

Disclaimer: Own nothing, at all..

**A/N: Thanks again to Brichen86 for the beta and adding some bits to the story! She's an ACE writer!:D**

**Anyone else ridiculously excited about Wednesday?Yessss...anyone know where I'd be able to find the episode online?Like as soon as it's over...?**

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Danny woke up first. It took him a while to realise where he was, and then he remembered the conversation he had had with Lindsay the night before...

_**(Flashback)**_

**"No problems here Montana! I should leave you to get some sleep; I'll see you at the lab tomorrow?"**

**Lindsay nodded her head sadly, and began to cry again. Silently.**

**Danny noticing this rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug.**

**"_Sshhh, why are you crying? Please don't cry baby, no more tears."_**

**"_I don't want to be alone. I've spent the last few nights alone without you; I don't want to do it anymore."_**

**Danny's heart skipped a beat, was she asking him to stay?**

**"_Montana? If you want I can crash on the couch."_ he said, not wanting to immediately assume she's want him to share her bed.**

**Lindsay looked up at him through teary eyes. Silently she took his hand and led him through to the bedroom. She got into bed and motioned for Danny to do the same.**

**"_Just hold me Danny, hold me and don't let me go."_**

**Danny nodded and took her in his arms determined that he wouldn't let anything tear them apart ever again.**

_**(End flashback)**_

Danny looked down and saw Lindsay's head lying on his chest. She looked so peaceful. He wasn't going to let go of her, and as if he was proving a point to himself he tightened his grip around her.

Lindsay awoke and looked up to see Danny smiling down at her.

"**_Good morning beautiful." _Danny whispered.**

"**_Right back at you cowboy." _Replied Lindsay in an equally quiet tone.**

They were silent again, both just lying in each other's arms, listening to the sound of their steady breaths. They were deep in their thoughts, both thinking about the same.

It was Danny who broke the silence first.

_**"Are you ready to go back?" **_he asked, insecurity clearly present in his voice.

_**"Why?" **_Lindsay asked back, although she already knew the answer.

**_"After…after all I did to you the last time we were there together…and after everyone witnessed it…it won't be easy."_**

Lindsay nodded. She moved a bit until their gazes met. And without her needing to say anything, Danny instantly knew what she wanted to say.

_**"I don't want to think about what you have done anymore. We'll go back together, and this is all that matters for me."**_

Danny just smiled at that and pulled her back into his arms. He was glad to hear her say this, showing him that maybe she hadn't forgotten but had forgiven him.

* * *

Danny and Lindsay stepped out of the crime labs elevators at the 34th floor.

Danny held a handful of papers in one hand and Lindsay's hand in the other.

They both saw the lab techs stares as they walked past. They turned to each other and just smiled, as if reassuring the other that they were in this together.

They walked into trace and got to work dusting the notes for prints, excluding their own of course. They found a couple of partials, but not enough to run through CODIS. They both sighed simultaneously.

"**_I think we should call a meeting in Macs office." _Stated Lindsay **

"**_Oh yeah? And why's that?" _asked Danny**

"_**I think that you're forgetting the promise you made me last night..."**_

"**_What promi…… oh that promise..." _he said remembering.**

"_**Not only that, I think it would be a good idea if we had the whole team working on who sent you these notes. Maybe then we'll catch the guy quicker."**_

Danny nodded, and taking Lindsay's hand lead her into their boss's office.

After Mac had heard all about Danny's letters he agreed to hold a meeting with their co-workers.

Soon enough the office was filled with the whole team.

Danny opened his mouth to start but before he did, he made the mistake of looking at Lindsay.

He wasn't looking forward to this, but if it meant keeping his Montana happy, he would do anything.

"**_Ok, first of all I would like to say something." _Danny took a deep breath _"I would like to apologise in front of all of you for the way I treated Montana here. I should never have said the things I did and miraculously she has forgiven me, I didn't mean anything of what I said. I love her." _He looked down on Lindsay's face, she wore a satisfied smile and mouthed 'I love you too' up at him** …letting him sigh if relief. This hadn't been easy for him, but it had been important, for both of them. Now he could go on with what else he had to say.

Over the next ten minutes Danny explained what was going on with the notes he received. Once he had finished a silence filled the room, everyone was thinking the same thing.** 'Who would do this?'**

"**_It's not Rikki." _stated Danny answering everyone's doubts.**

"**_Yeah, I noticed the dates, who dates a threatening note?" _a confused Stella reiterated what Lindsay had asked the night before.**

"**_It's a compulsive thing, am I right?" _asked Mac.**

"**_Yeah, Danny said his dad used to date everything, so it's likely whoever this guy is shows some compulsive behaviour." _ Reasoned Lindsay.**

"**_Could make him easier to find." _Replied Sheldon.**

The team spent the next half hour discussing possible suspects and ways in which they could catch this guy.

"**_Ok, Danny, I know this is going to be hard for you not to do anything yet, but we can't make a move until we get more evidence. We have to wait and see when or if you get another note, and when (or if) you do, use gloves, maybe we can get a full print next time." _Said Mac.**

"**_So, what your saying is I have to wait until this guy gets even more angry and dangerous before we can do anything?" _Danny asked grimly. "_What if something happens and Montana gets hurt?"_**

"**_Danny, I'll be fine, as long as I've got you, I'll be fine. It's just a note, we just have to wait." _Lindsay pulled Danny into an embrace.**

Little did they know that they would not have to wait long.

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**A/N: There ya go, enough of the fillers I think, I'm gonna go ahead with all the action and angst next chapter, you have been warned!:D Hope you're enjoying the story, I love reviews an appreciate them all, will try and reply but I'm sorry in advance if I don't! Doesn't mean I don't read them or anything, I actually love them! Thanks again!**

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	8. Three mistakes

**Disclaimer: I own nothing..at all..:D**

**A/N: Thanks again to the reviews I'm getting and thanks also to those of you who have put me on their alerts list, it's a great response for my first fic! Once again thanks to Brichen86 for the beta, ace!!:P Anyways, enjoy!**

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"I could call in sick if you wanted me to stay? I'm sure Mac'll understand."

"Danny, you're only at work for a couple of hours today, I'll be fine on my own, and I'll just watch some TV maybe do some cleaning up. Trust me, you'll be home before you know it!" replied Lindsay.

"Knowing you, you'll do none of those things and by the time I get home you'll be exactly where you are now, in bed, asleep."- retorted Danny.

"Not likely, I can't sleep without you next to me." Smiled Lindsay

"And you're trying to make me **go **to work? I'm going to worry about you all day, what if this guy comes after you? Do you think I could ever forgive myself if anything ever happened to you?"

"I'm not leaving the apartment; we don't even know if this guy knows where I live ok. I'll be fine, now go before you're late."

"I'll call you every fifteen minutes and if you don't answer I'm coming home." Grinned Danny.

"You got it, now leave!"- demanded Lindsay laughing.

* * *

After Danny left for work Lindsay started to clean up around the apartment. Laughing every fifteen minutes when the phone rang.

Although she had to stop every few minutes to answer the phone, she couldn't deny that she liked Danny's protectiveness. He wanted to know that she was safe, and this was a wonderful feeling. Especially after the shock she had suffered after he had broken up (or tried to break up) with her.

Lindsay had just gotten off the phone to Danny for the 16th time he said he was going to leave work in ten minutes. So Lindsay picked up the phone again and called for a pizza, Danny's favourite topping off course.

* * *

When the doorbell rang 20 minutes later Lindsay assumed that it would either be Danny or the Pizza so she didn't bother looking through the peephole. That was her first mistake.

Her second mistake was paying more attention to looking for her purse then seeing who was on the other side of the door.

Her third was not screaming when she saw the man pulling out a baseball bat.

And before she knew it, it was too late to scream for help because her whole world had gone black.

* * *

Danny was running up the stairs two at a time, Lindsay hadn't picked up the last time he rang and he had a bad feeling about it.

When he finally reached the door to her apartment he immediately realised there was something wrong.

The door was wide open and Lindsay's purse was lying on the floor next to it.

Danny raced through the open door praying that Lindsay was still inside.

"LINDSAY? LINDSAY? WHERE ARE YOU?"

He went through every room checking every possible place that she could be, but to no avail.

He took out his cell and tried ringing her, but after it rang a few times it just went straight to voicemail.

He went back to the door and noticed a piece of paper lying on the floor.

Another note.

_Danny,_

_You lost someone? Shame isn't it? When you lose someone you care about._

_Lucky for you, you won't have to see the look in the eyes of someone you love when they find out they've lost they're baby._

_Of course, you didn't see her face did you?_

_No, you were a coward, and left as soon as you found out, went straight back to work._

_Didn't even try to help pick up the pieces._

_Let's see if you can move on as quickly when it's your Montana in trouble instead,_

_D._

Danny looked at the note twice over, remembering Macs advice to wear gloves.

'Who is doing this?' he thought desperately to himself.

* * *

With shaking hands, he got out his cell and called Mac.

"Mac? They've got Lindsay, whoever it is, they've got her." Danny didn't even try and hide the fact that he was crying.

"Are you sure? Are you sure she hasn't just gone out and can't hear her cell?" replied Mac in as steady tone.

"Mac, I'm not stupid, the door was left wide open and her purse was on the floor next to it and…and…they left another note." Danny explained.

"Okay, bring the note to the lab as quickly as possible. Is her cell on?" Mac tried to calm Danny down.

"Yeah, it's on but she's not picking up."

"Right, come to the lab and we'll try and ring her from here, maybe she'll pick up and we can track her down, then we can get started on dusting the note. Get here as soon as possible!"

"I'll be there in ten" replied Danny hurrying out the door.

* * *

Lindsay came round and tried to open her eyes, succeeding in her quest she looked around the room.

'Where am I?' Se thought.

She took in the stove in the corner and the kettle on the sideboard.

'Okay, so I'm in a kitchen, but it's not mine, or anyone else's I know.' Lindsay was about to stand up when she realised that she couldn't, her hand were tied behind the chair she was sitting on, and her feet were tied together at the ankles.

Suddenly Lindsay remembered what had happened back at her apartment, she had opened the door to a man, she had recognised him but couldn't quite place him.

He had knocked her out with a bat, and the next thing she knew she had woken up here.

But before she could make any other observations a man came into the kitchen.

"Ah, I see little sleeping beauty has woken up…" the man sneered.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this to Danny?" Lindsay asked trying to keep the fear out of her voice.

"That my dear is for me to know and for you to find out, in due time of course." He stated and delivered a swift slap to the side of Lindsay's face.

* * *

Back at the lab the whole team had gathered once again to analyse the note and try to get a signal on Lindsay's cell.

They were in the middle of discussing possible suspects once more when Adam came rushing through the halls, clearly on a mission.

"Mac! Mac!" he started

"Adam, I'm right here." Mac replied.

"Oh yeah sorry." Adam stopped and noticed the looks the rest of the team were giving him, the sight of Danny's tear stained face made him uncomfortable. He continued "Erm, hi guys..."

"Adam, did you have something?" asked an impatient Mac

"Oh, yeah, erm the note that you gave me to analyse, had some more partials but nothing to go on." He stopped again taking in the looks of disappointment on the teams faces. "But." He went on "There was some DNA to run on."

"DNA? How did you get DNA from a piece of paper?" Stella asked.

"I don't know, I mean I guess the guy had a cold of some sort, anyway he sneezed on the note, and although he isn't in the system, his son is." Adam ended his explanation and was about to leave before he saw the expectant faces of his friends.

"A name Adam?" asked an impatient Flack,

"Oh yeah, well Erm his son was in the lab employee database."

"His son is an employee? In the lab? This case just gets weirder." Stated Hawkes.

"Or simpler, that could be how this guy knows Danny." Reasoned Mac.

"Yeah, well his son, and before I tell you can I just say I double and triple checked this but ended up with the same results. The guy you're looking for is Danny's father."

The whole team turned in time to see Danny's face drain of colour.

* * *

**A/N: Please review, they are so important for me to know how I'm doing!Thanks again!!**

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	9. Daddy dearest

**Disclaimer:I own nothing..disappointing i know, but I persevere!**

**A/N:Thanks again for the reviews everyone, I'm really glad you're enjoying the story! Thanks to Brichen86 for the beta!**

**Oh and DOA for a day?was amazing!:D can't wait for next week!**

* * *

Lindsay winced in pain as she felt the mans hand swipe her face. She closed her eyes as she felt the man's fists being punched into her stomach. She so badly wanted to cry out for help, but knew it would be no use.

Someone who has taken the time to send Danny 4 notes over a period of a few months clearly put some serious thought into planning this. So it was unlikely that any cry would be heard.

Once the beating had stopped it took her a while to catch her breath.

"How do you know Danny?" she asked gasping for breath.

"Don't you recognise me? I saw you at the hospital that day. I guess you didn't notice me huh?" he spat.

"The hospital? When? After the drug bust? After the bomb? Help me out here, be more specific." Lindsay coughed.

"Oh no, it was none of those times. Although it seems Danny has been living on the edge, a drug bust and a bomb you say? Well it's never boring over at the crime lab is it?" This was more of a statement than a question...

"Wait a minute, I remember you now! Yeah, you were there at the hospital the day they took Danny's brother Louie off life support weren't you?" said Lindsay relieved she had finally placed him.

"Very clever, beauty _and _brains, I see why Danny likes you so much." Chuckled the man.

Upon hearing his laugh Lindsay winced, he was enjoying this.

"Hang on a minute, they only allowed family in Louie's room at the hospital that day, I had to wait outside. But that doesn't make any sense, why would anyone in Danny's family want to do something like this?" Lindsay was talking more to herself than anyone else. "He doesn't have any other brothers, they only man there that day was…" Lindsay stopped and gasped "…his father" she finished.

Lindsay looked up to see Danny's father slow clapping her. The piercing noises not helping her throbbing headache.

"Well done, Lindsay," He walked over to her and stood over her.

Lindsay wouldn't admit it but she was terrified of what this man might do to her. But she needed answers, for Danny's sake she needed to stay brave.

The man held Lindsay' gaze for a while as if trying to see what she was thinking.

Lindsay opened her mouth to say something but stopped when she saw the gun poking out from the man's belt.

Danny's father followed Lindsay's gaze to the gun. He smiled at the worried expression on her face.

"Are you planning on using that?" Lindsay asked, licking her now dry and bloody lips.

"I haven't decided yet. But I'm sure that's not all you want to know. Come on, that little CSI mind must be working overtime trying to figure out why I'm doing this." He sneered.

"No, I think I've pretty much got it." She replied. "You're grieving over the loss of you son, Louie, he was beaten up for protecting his brother Danny. So you blame him for Louie ending up dead."

"It's all his fault, Louie would've lived if it wasn't for Danny." He shouted.

"And you think that kidnapping and beating me is going to bring him back? Asked Lindsay anger dripping from every word.

"No, I don't think it'll bring him back, but now maybe, just maybe Danny will know what it feels like to lose someone he loves."

And with that he pulled the gun from his hip and clicked the safety off.

* * *

"Danny's father? I don't believe it…" Stella shook her head and saw that Danny's eyes were about to fill with tears.

"No, I get it, it makes sense now. He signed the last note "D", I was named after him, his name's Daniel. He dated all the notes." Danny whispered.

"But why does he want to hurt you? Why does he blame you for Louie?" Mac asked.

"I didn't think he did, but then again I haven't spoken to him since the day Louie died, him and Ma separated around the same time. They no longer live together so I haven't seen him. I knew he was pissed off at me, I mean he never loved me, not really, not like he loved Louie." Danny's voice shook.

""Okay Danny, I know this must be hard for you, but we need to get to Lindsay, we don't know what he might do. Do you have any idea where he might have taken her?" asked Stella.

"There are plenty of places but nothing solid, we can't go searching around every place my father has ever been to on the off chance he took Lindsay there."

"Try her cell again" Mac said grimly.

Danny took out his phone and dialled Lindsay's number.

* * *

Lindsay could feel her phone vibrating in her pocket. She looked over to where Danny's dad was sitting on the other side of the room; she had managed to talk him out of shooting her and now he was sitting on the windowsill staring out the window. He hadn't noticed her phone.

Lindsay struggled, trying not to make any noise, to pull her phone out of her pocket. No small feat considering her hands were still tied behind her back. She managed to position herself so that her hands could reach into her back pocket. She grunted in pain as the rope dug into her wrists.

She let out a sigh of achievement once she finally prised her cell from her pocket. Not being able to see who it was, she flipped it open behind her back, praying that it was Danny.

* * *

"MAC! GUYS! She's picked up, but she's not speaking, quickly trace it!" Danny yelled at his co-workers.

Stella rushed over to the computer to trace Lindsay's cell, whilst Mac, Hawkes and Flack stood by Danny's side trying to catch parts of the conversation that was occurring on the other end of the line.

"Guys, we have a location" called Stella.

The four men ran over to the screen that displayed the place where Lindsay was being held.

"That's Louie's old place." Stated Danny.

"Let's move!" hurried Flack.

In the car, no one was talking; everyone was just straining their ears at the phone, trying to hear any sign that Lindsay might be hurt.

They were all shocked when they heard Lindsay's voice.

* * *

"You don't have to do this you know. It'll only result in you getting in trouble." Lindsay spoke calmly.

"I don't care anymore, But I'll tell you one thing, Danny is going to be sorry he ever let you out of his sight this morning, He loves you, more than he has loved anyone else, cept' maybe his Ma." Lindsay was shocked by how calm this man sounded, like he'd given up his quest to cause any physical damage to her.

He continued "No, I don't have to put a bullet in your chest, or hurt you any more."

Danny' grip on the phone tightened when he heard Lindsay's voice, he could tell she was in pain. And when he'd heard his father admitting to hitting her, his knuckles went white…

Lindsay tried to ignore the pain that was piercing through her stomach from where Danny's dad had punched her; through gritted teeth she spoke "Why the sudden change of heart?"

The man looked at her "I never planned on killing you. But what I've done today, it's gonna eat Danny up for the rest of his life. He'll feel guilty that he ever left you alone. He'll blame himself for the scars that I've left on you, both physical and mental. Then I'll have got revenge for him taking away the life of my son."

Just at that moment Lindsay could identify Flacks voice shouting "NYPD!" Before kicking down the door.

Danny's father tried to make a run for it, but Stella quickly caught him by the collar of his shirt and handcuffed him.

As soon as he was through the door Danny scanned the room for Lindsay. He found her sitting in the chair, he ran over to her.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry baby, please forgive me." He sobbed as he untied her from the chair.

He almost burst into tears completely when he saw the huge gash across her cheek from where she had been slapped.

"Danny, its ok, don't blame youself, please don't blame yourself." Lindsay begged, tears streaming down her face.

She tried to get up in her own, but when she did, the room started spinning and she grabbed Danny's shirt to support her.

"Danny...Danny.." was all she could whisper as her legs gave way beneath her and she saw black for the second time that day.

**A/N:Review please?I'm trying to reply individually, which I did for the lst two chapters!I really appreciate any constructive critisism, praise(:P) and any recomendations as to how my fic could be made better!  
**


	10. Sweet Nothings

**Disclaimer:Own nothin'...**

**A/N:Sorry about the slow updating I've been away for 5 days, but I'm back now and ready to write..**

* * *

Danny never let go of Lindsay's hand as they wheeled her out to the Ambulance.

"You're going to be ok Lindsay, I promise" he repeated over and over again like a mantra.

By the time the Ambulance had got there, Lindsay had come around again but her pulse was weak and she was badly beaten so they were taking her into hospital anyway.

Lindsay was lying on the stretcher clutching onto Danny's hand as if her life depended on it.

She could see his mouth was moving but couldn't hear what he was saying. So she just looked at him and gave a weak smile.

Danny couldn't see the smile because her mouth was covered by an oxygen mask, what he did see however was the fear in her eyes. Seeing that fear make his eyes fill with tears once more, but he wouldn't let the tears fall.

They finally arrived at hospital and they took Lindsay in to run some tests, and make sure there was no lasting damage done to her from the beating.

"I'm right here Lindsay, I'll be waiting here for you" he shouted out the door of her room as they took her away.

Only when he knew that Lindsay could no longer see him, Danny let the tears fall freely down his face. Danny sat there in Lindsay's empty room waiting for her to return and trying to keep his mind from wandering to what could have happened if they hadn't found her in time. He prayed that she would be ok, that she would forgive him for leaving her alone.

Danny heard the team before he could see them.

"I don't care if she's allowed no more than two visitors at a time, we're all going in!" came to authoritative voice of Mac.

Danny heard several choruses of "We ARE her family in New York! We deserve to be able to see her"

Danny didn't know what they had done but several minutes later, four figures entered the room.

"Danny? How is she?" came Stella's concerned question.

"She's alright, they're just running some tests to make sure that no long term damage was done." Danny sniffed, trying to wipe away any evidence that he had just been crying.

"I'm going to see if I can find her doctor, see if he can tell us anymore about what tests they're running" said Hawkes as he left the room.

"How are you holding up Dan?" Flack asked.

"Not good to tell you the truth. She was hurt because of me. What if there's permanent damage? What if she's really hurt? How am I going to be able to live with myself knowing that I did that to her.?"

"You didn't do that to her though, your father did. He was the one that uhrt her Danny, not you. You're only doing what your father wanted, you're blaming yourself. Do you want him to win? To have that control over you?" reasoned Mac.

Before Danny had a chance to reply, Lindsay was wheeled into the room on her hospital bed, closely followed by Hawkes.

Danny rushed over to Lindsay's side and grabbed a hold of her hand.

The rest of the team saw this as their cue to leave so without a word they silently left the room and went to talk to the doctor.

"Hey" Lindsay smiled.

"Hey" Danny mirrored her smile. "How you feeling? What did the doctor say?"

"I have one broken rib and some bad bruising, but nothing they can't cure." She whispered. "They want to keep me in for a few days, I told them I wanted to go home but they wouldn't listen."

"Baby, they just want to make sure you make the fullest recovery you can, and the best way to do that is in a hospital."

"I know, it just means I won't be able to see you as much!"

"Yes you will, I'm going to stay here with you, I'll ask Mac for a few days off so I can stay with you whilst you recover. I'll sleep in this chair right next to you, ok?"

Lindsay had been in hospital for two days, and although she was itching to get home the doctors had insisted she stayed till the end of the week.

Normally she would have just discharged herself but Danny was with her 24/7 to make sure she stayed where she was.

She was sitting in her bed, watching the tv, waiting for Danny to return with the things she'd asked for from her apartment.

She was absent minded looking around the room, when he eyes fell on something poking out from inside Danny's overnight bag.

She reached in and pulled out a photo frame from the bag.

Taking it in her hand she wandered back to her bed and sat down.

It was the same frame she'd seen Danny crying over that day in the lab. She smiled when she saw the picture.

She sat there for a while just staring and smiling at the picture behind the glass.

She turned the frame over and saw a piece of paper sticking out from beneath the frame.

She frowned as she gently pulled out the piece of paper.

She unfolded it and cried when she read what was written.

But for once, they were tears of joy.

_Montana, I love you, always have and always will, please forgive me for this_

She gasped when she heard Danny coming into her room. He saw she had been crying and quickly rushed towards her.

"Baby, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Then he noticed the photo and note sitting on her lap.

"I guess I should have sent you that one eh?" he joked.

Lindsay glared at him.

"Not ready to joke about it? Ok." Danny's tone became more serious "I'm so sorry Linds, for everything, the note, my dad, every stupid thing I have ever done. I'm sorry."

Lindsay gave him a small smile. "It's ok Danny, I've forgiven you, I really have. Now where are my goodies?"

Danny laughed as her pulled three plastic bags and one overnight one onto her bed.

"Got your spare clothes, clean pyjamas, you know the boring stuff. And a large supply of all things bad for you."

"Did you get the twizzlers?" she asked.

"Did I get the twizzlers? Honey, this bag..." he pointed to one of the plastic bags "…is nothing but twizzlers."

Her eyes lit up as she grinned.

"I love you Danny Messer!" she placed a long lingering kiss on his lips.

After they broke apart Danny mumbled "I love you too Montana, I really do!"

* * *

**A/N:Next chapter may take a while...I'm running low on ideas and I'm back at school tomorrow...also my bubble has slightly deflated from this weeks episode...combine that with jet lag and me thinking it's still 7 in the morning...I'm tired!/Read and review please!!**

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	11. I Really Do

**Disclaimer: Own nothing, at all, but my precious optimism that D/L will make it through this weird thing that's going on...**

**As always thanks to Brina for the beta!:D**

**I thought there had been enough angst plaguing our television screens so here's a lotta fluff for you, sorry it took so long to update, inspiration just wouldn't strike!!**

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It had been two weeks since Lindsay had gotton home from the hospital, and Danny was making sure that she never left his sight. Although Lindsay acted annoyed at Danny when he got too over-protected, secretly she loved that he cared about her so much. She loved that he would get up out of bed in the middle of the night to run to the corner shop to buy her a bad of doritoes, just cos she felt like eating some. Most of all she loved the way he was always there for her.

In the two weeks that had passed Danny had blamed himself for what had happened at Louie's apartment. But every day when he woke up to see her smile as if reassuring him that everything was ok, the part of him that blamed himself got less and less.

Since Lindsay had gotton home from the hospital she had been spending all of her time at Danny's apartment, Mac had given them both some time off and they were happy just being with each other.

One night Lindsay was lying against Danny's chest on the couch and they were watching a film on the TV, it was Lindsay's choice of a chick flick, much to Danny's disgust, so he kept trying to distract her for long enough that he could change the channel.

His hand was draped over Lindsay's shoulder, entwining with her hand on the back of the couch.

After sitting in a sulky silence after Danny's last failed attempt at dragging Lindsay's attention away from the film, Danny stroked the bruises still left on Lindsays wrist from thw rope that had tied her up.

"Does it still hurt?" he whispered.

"Less and less every day I'm with you." she replied smiling even though Danny couldn't see her, he could feel the smile brightening up her face.

"I'm glad, and I'm sorry."

Lindsay sighed, Danny had made a habit of apologising every day and she was getting worried that he would never stop. She didn't want to upset him, so she just rolled her head up on his chest to look at him.

"It's ok, I don't blame you, I never have, so stop blaming yourself. Completely!"

Danny looked into her big brown eyes and finally the question he had been wanting to ask for so long, finally formed in his mouth.

"Moveinwithme." he rambled.

Lindsays eyes didn't move from the TV screen.

"What did you say honey?" she asked absent mindedly.

"I said, move in with me." Danny reiterated , emphasising every word.

Lindsay still didn't look up from where she was looking.

"Danny, stop trying to distract me, I'm watching the film, you can watch what you want afterwards!" she sighed.

Danny shifted and pulled Lindsay up to look at him..

"I'm serious, you practically live here at the moment anyway, and there is nothing I love more than waking up to find you next to me, I can't believe how lucky I am to have you and I don't ever want to be in a position where I worry about you staying in an empty apartment on your own, so lets do it, let's live together."

Lindsay looked up at his face and saw he was being serious. A huge grin broke out on her face as she brought her lips up to meet Danny's in a passion filled kiss.

When they finally broke apart, Danny mirrored the grin that Lindsay was still wearing.

"I'll take that as a yes then." he smiled.

"Did you really think I'd say no?" she replied.

Danny's lips came crashing down onto Lindsays in yet another seemingly never ending kiss.

"I want you to move in now!" he stated.

"Danny, it's 10 in the evening!" Lindsay laughed.

"I don't care, I want you to officially move your stuff in now, I want your CDs on the shelf, I want your shampoo in the shower, I want your clothes in the closet. I want something to remind me of you everywhere in this place!" he explained.

Lindsay couldn't help but giggle at the childlike pout Danny was now wearing.

"I'll tell you what, We'll move me in first thing tomorrow, but for now, I can think of something better to do with our time." she hinted.

"Oh yeah? And what would that be?" Danny's former pout was now replaced with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

Lindsay smiled.

"Finish watching the film!"she said matter of factly as she turned to reposition herself into the former position they were sitting.

"That was mean Montana, real mean!" he whined.

"Yeah, but you love me!" she said poking her tongue out.

'Yeah, I do!' he thought ' I really do.'

* * *

**Read and review pretty please, I love them ever so much!:)I shall reply!**

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	12. Country wants pancakes!

**A/N.Sorry I keep taking ages to upload, for some reason I actually need to do work at school, who'd have thought?:P**

**Here's some more fluff cos I don't have the heart to write anything else!:D**

**Enjoy, and as always please read and please please review!!:)**

* * *

The next day Danny helped Lindsay move her stuff in to his apartment. They were both sitting cross legged on the floor sorting through their CDs.

Danny was sifting through Lindsay's pile,

"Faith Hill? Tim McGraw? Carrie Underwood?" he rattled off the albums. "You are so unbelievably country, do you know that Montana?" he smirked.

"What? Oh come on I'm not that bad, there's some other stuff here…." Lindsay trailed off rooting through her collection "AHAH!" she exclaimed "I knew I had something, "she proudly displayed her Frank Sinatra CD to Danny.

Danny took the CD raising an eyebrow "That's one CD Linds, one of about 50 you got here."

"And? You don't like country Messer?" she joked.

Danny grinned "You know that I love country" he said getting up and putting a CD in the player.

He extended his arm "Would country like to dance?"

Lindsay beamed back up at him, grabbed his hand and pulled herself up. Danny pressed play on the remote and the unmistakable sound of Faith Hill filled the room.

**"_I don't want another heartbreak; I don't need another turn to cry, Oh I don't want to learn the hard way, baby hello, oh no goodbye"_**

The couple slowly danced their way around the living room filled with half packed boxes and the promise of a future.

**"_It's the way you love me, it's I feel like this, It_''_s centrifugal motion, It's perpetual bliss"_**

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Lindsay whispered as she blinked up at Danny.

Lindsay's question had caught Danny off guard, he frowned at her face and took in the look of vulnerability that was displayed on it. A small piece of his heart broke just seeing that unnecassary fear. He stopped dancing and lifted her up into his arms.

Lindsay squealed, "Danny! What are you doing??"

Instead of answering her, Danny carried her towards the pool table and set her down on the edge of it.

Lindsay giggled as he did so.

"Lindsay, look at me." He said seriously straing her straight in her eyes.

Lindsay did as he instructed, her worried look still present on her face.

"Lindsay, I love you, I really do, if I didn't want you here, I wouldn't jave asked you to move in. I never, ever want you to doubt the way I feel about you, you got that?"

Lindsay nodded, the worries that had plagued her mind ever since she first read _that _letter, were long gone, because looking at how serisous he looked, she knew he was telling the truth.

"So you serious about this? You really want me here?" Lindsay searched for confirmation of what she already knew.

Danny wound his arms around her waist, "You and your crappy music!" he replied bringing his lips down to hers and engaging them into a passionate exchange.

When they broke apart both were grinning from ear to ear.

"I love you too!" smiled Lindsay.

"Come on, those bxes aren't going to unpack themselves" Danny said defeatedly.

"In a minute, country's hungry for some pancakes."

"Pancakes?Lindsay, it's 5 in the afternoon!" Danny gave her an are-you-serious look.

Lindsay nodded enthusiastically "I can think of a few things we can do with any left over syrup!" she teased.

Danny smiled "If country wants pancakes,country gets pancakes!" he made his way to the kitchen.

"Make tracks cowboy!" Lindsay called after him swinging her legs over the edge of the pool table.

**"_This kiss, this kiss, unstoppable, this kiss, this kiss"_**

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**I know, it was short, I'm sorry,there is some angst coming up, sorry, but I figure I can't have an entire fic of fluff, or can I??hmm..now that's something to think about...**

**REVIEW!REVIEW!REVIEW!!PLEASE??Thanks guys!:D**


	13. Powercut Really?

**A/N:Sorry for the lack of updating and apologies for the short chapter, but I now know where I want to go with this and the next chapter should be up quite soon!:D Thanks to all of you who have stayed interested in this story and all of you who start reading even though there are already 13 chapters, I can't thank you guys enough, especially those who review!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing at all, so no sueing please! But I did find YET another crayon on the floor today, not blue but orange, I swear my school must be full of people who still think they're like 5 years old!**

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"Hi, you've reached the Messer residence, I'm no….."

"Hey, don't you mean Messer/Monroe residence??" Lindsay interrupted.

"I'm sorry; you're right, Messer/Monroe residence"

Lindsay interrupted again.

"We're not in at the moment, but if you leave your name and number…"

Now it was Danny's turn to interrupt.

"We'll get back to you as soon as possible."

"Oh no! Danny, you did not just finish my sentence? We're gonna turn into one of those annoyingly smug couples that we make fun of!"

"But we _are _a smug couple Montana!!" Danny grinned.

"You do realise that Flack'll make fun of you about this for like ever!"

"Wait, you mean this is still recording?"

Lindsay bit her lip to keep herself from laughing and nodded.

Danny reached for the delete button just as Lindsay pulled it away and ran into the bedroom with it.

"Montana! Get back here!" Danny yelled chasing after Lindsay, who was now jumping up and down on the bed waving the machine above her head.

"Oh you are so dead!" he smiled as he wrestled her down onto the bed and began tickling her.

Lindsay spoke between laughs "Da...nny...Stop it!" she squealed. "It's still recording"

Danny shrugged "We'll change it later" he replied tossing the machine out the way.

The last thing that could be heard was the sound of Lindsay laughing before the machine cut them off.

* * *

Stella held her phone to her ear and laughed as she heard her friends' answering machine message, when she heard the beep she began talking.

"You guys seriously need to get a new message! You're clearly, ahem, busy right now, but I thought that seeing as we both have the day off, we could have a girly shopping day! Come on, Tiffany's is calling. I'm coming over in an hour to get you, oh and by the way, just in case Danny is getting excited over this prospect, I'm talking to Lindsay."

* * *

An hour later Lindsay answered the door still wearing one of Danny's shirts, an apologetic smile playing on her lips.

"Lindsay! I gave you an hours warning! Go get dressed!" Stella exclaimed pushing through the door and switching on the coffee machine.

"I'm so sorry Stella, I'll be five minutes." Replied Lindsay rushing into the bedroom just as Danny walked out, laughing at her when she tripped over the shoe that was lying in the doorway.

Lindsay shot him a warning look as she slammed the door behind her. Danny was still laughing as he walked into the kitchen, abruptly stopping when he saw Stella glaring at him.

"So I assume that you're to blame for cutting into some serious shopping time?"

"Uhm..well…the thing is…there was this huge power cut this morning…yeah…all the lights were out…"

Stella raised her eyebrow as she looked out the window, it was the clearest day she'd seen in Manhattan that year, she turned her gaze back to Danny trying not to laugh.

Lindsay came running out the bedroom and ushered Stella to the door.

"Danny, stop, just…stop. I'll be home for dinner, which I'll bring home with me. Why don't you invite Flack round so you can try and forget about the embarrassment of this moment?" Lindsay smiled as she moved towards the door.

Danny got over his speechlessness before Lindsay shut the door.

"Oh, ok then, I love you too by the way." He said sarcastically.

Lindsay rolled her eyes and walked over to Danny who was wearing a mock hurt expression on his face. She gave him a kiss and whispered something in his ear which left him smiling, and then headed back out the apartment.

Danny saw the door shut and went to make some coffee, frowning when he heard the door open again. It was Stella poking her head through the gap in the door and looking straight at him.

"Power cut? Really? Awful, just plain awful" she muttered before disappearing back into the hallway.

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**Please review, I live off them!I will reply because I adore them so much!**

**Next Chapter: A bit of back and forth between shooping trip with the ladies and beer drinking/game watching with the men!:D**

**Aren't you excited?:P**


	14. You love it!

**A/N: So sorry about the lack of updating, I know I say that everytime, but I truly am, I am literally writing the chapters as I go along, probably not the best idea.../**

**Thanks to Brichen86 for the beta, as always, she's ace!**

**Thanks to all of you guys who have reviewed, I try my hardest to reply to them all individually, and you guys have no idea how much reviews mean to me! So review this chappy please!!:)**

**Disclaimer: Own nothing, and I've been told it's unlikely I ever will! Sadness!**

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"Stella, this is the wrong floor! We always go to the silver jewellery first!" Lindsay whined.

"I know, but I thought it'd be fun to look at these!" Stella replied.

"You thought it'd be fun to look at..." Lindsay trailed off when she realised what floor they were on. "ENGANGEMENT RINGS? Stella, have you lost your mind?"

"Far from it actually, come on Linds it's just a bit of fun, it's not like I'm asking you to propose to Danny! We're just looking."

"Okay fine, but if I end up falling in love with one of these things, you're the one that's gonna have to pull me out of it okay?"

"Okay, fine, now stop talking and look!!"

Stella dragged Lindsay over to a glass cabinet proudly displaying a number of diamond rings.

"Wow" Lindsay sighed "Look at this one."

Stella joined Lindsay's side and grinned at her choice.

"It's amazing isn't it?" Lindsay smiled.

Stella was still grinning as she answered "It's beautiful, it really is."

Both women stood just staring adoringly at the ring they'd found. It had a white gold band; the main diamond was 0.5 carat white stone with 4 smaller stones surrounding it on each side.

After about 5 minutes or so Stella broke the silence.

"Come on, we better go look at the things we can afford now."

"Okay, goodbye ring." Lindsay sighed as she and Stella made their way to the elevators.

"So how much of Lindsay's monthly pay check do you think will go towards rent this month?" Flack enquired.

"After today? I don't think the rent stands a chance!" Danny replied." Stella's the worst influence on her when it comes to shopping."

At the mention of Stella's name Flack choked on his beer.

"Hey, man, you okay? Wait a minute, is there something going on between you and Stella?"

"Oh come on all I did was choke on my beer and you assume that something is going on?" Flack replied.

"Yeah, it could also be the fact that your face has turned bright red, oh and by the way none of those words were "No Danny, nothing's going on!""

"Okay, fine, but don't say anything, please? I really like her and I don't want to screw this up."

"Wow, erm okay, I won't say anything." Danny turned his attention back to the television screen.

A couple of minutes later, Danny's cell rang, it was Stella, and he left the room to answer it. Flack noticed this and muted the TV to listen to the conversation.

"Hey Stell, did she like it?" Danny whispered.

"She chose it first out of every ring in the store, she loves it!" came Stella's hushed reply.

"That's great, thanks so much Stell."

"No problem, I had fun looking anyway."

"Oh yeah? Special guy in your life?" Danny hinted.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Stella answered.

"Anyone I know?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask him yourself, he's sitting on your couch!" Stella laughed." I gotta go, Lindsay's found a dress she likes." And with that she hung up the phone.

Danny was still laughing as he sat back down on the couch but abruptly stopped when he saw Flacks face.

"Something you want to tell me Danno?" Flack asked.

"Erm…yes?" Danny replied. "Okay here's the thing, I picked a ring out for Montana in Tiffany's and I wanted to make sure she liked it before I gave it to her. So I sent Stella with her to see what her opinion was of it."

"Woah, woah, woah. You're proposing to Lindsay?"

"Yeah, I guess I am" Danny couldn't stop the smile from spreading over his face.

"That's great congratulations man. So did she like the ring?" Flack gave Danny a hug.

"Stella said she picked it out, of all the rings in the shop, she picked out the one that I chose!"

"Wow, that's amazing. So how do you plan on doing it?"

"Lindsay, you have to keep up."

"I'm sorry Stella, were the other 3 dresses you bought not enough?" Lindsay said sarcastically.

"Don't get smart with me Lindsay, besides, we're not looking for me anymore, we're looking for you."

"Me? Why me? I don't have an occasion to wear one to."

"Not yet you don't…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lindsay asked.

"Nothing, stop analysing everything Linds, and try these on." Stella said pushing a pile of dresses into Lindsay's hands. "Oh and show me what they look like,"

"I can't try these on." Lindsay said sadly.

"And why the hell not?" Stella demanded.

"Cos I don't have any shoes to try on with them!" Lindsay laughed.

"Okay, I get it, I'll grab some shoes and I'll pass them through." Stella laughed walking towards the display of shoes.

10 minutes later Lindsay was trying on the last dress, she slipped on her favourite of the shoes that Stella had given her and pulled back the curtain to show her friend.

"BUY THEM!" were the first things that came from Stella's mouth. "Buy them, or I swear to god I will tell Danny that you don't love him"

"Stella!" Lindsay laughed "But I can't afford the dress and the shoes, I have to pay rent you know."

"What's that Lindsay? You don't love Danny anymore? Oh I guess I should tell him then…" Stella pulled out her cell.

"Okay fine, I'll buy them, man you're persuasive sometimes" said Lindsay walking back into the changing room.

"Yeah but you love it!" Stella shouted through the closed curtain.

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**Please Please Please press that button and review, it'll only take a second!**


	15. Stars that shine

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Disclaimer: Own nothing, not even the computer I am currently on.

**A/N: I know, I am awful at keeping this updated, I am so sorry, but I hope ya'll are enjoying the fic. I break up for summer in a couple of weeks so then I'll be able to update more regularly!  
This chapter took me the longest to write cos I wanted it to be amazing, fingers crossed I did the job!**

**Once again thank you to Brinchen86 for beta'ing this whole fic, she's helped me make it what it is!:)**

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"Where did you say we were going tonight?" called Lindsay from the bedroom where she was getting ready.

"I didn't, and you should know better than to try and catch me out like that." Danny replied from the couch.

Lindsay poked her head out from the semi open door, "Do you know how difficult it is to get dressed when I have no idea where we're going?"

"It doesn't matter what you wear tonight, you could turn up in your sweats and it'd be okay, you'll look great whatever you wear." Danny chuckled.

"You're my boyfriend, you have to say that, and don't tempt me with the whole sweats thing!" Lindsay rolled her eyes, giving a small smirk, she closed the door.

Ten minutes later the bedroom door opened and Danny turned his gaze from the TV screen to Lindsay. An enormous grin broke his face as he took in her outfit.  
She was wearing her favourite pair of dark jeans that fitted her perfectly and her black v-neck cashmere jumper that she had worn holes in the sleeves of from where she was constantly pulling them over her thumbs.  
On her feet were a pair of black boots with a heel, tall enough to give her height, yet low enough so she could still outrun suspects in, which Danny had seen her do plenty of times before.  
The outfit itself was entirely ordinary, but in Danny's eyes he saw something completely extraordinary.  
Danny walked over to where she was standing and tucked a wave of hair behind Lindsay's ears and kissed her lightly on the lips.  
Lindsay smiled "So, what do you think cowboy? Appropriate for the evening ahead?"

Danny, remembering what he had planned for the night, took a deep breath, "Honey, it'll be perfect." He replied, referring to both her outfit and the evening.

* * *

"Danny what are we doing here? Did you get a page or something?" Lindsay asked as they pulled up outside the gates of Central Park Zoo.

"Nope, no DBs tonight Montana, it's just you and me here." He smiled.

"Danny, the zoo closed about two hours ago, we can't go in there."

"A friend of mine knows someone who knows someone, we're okay, as long as we don't stray from the spot I've "reserved" for the evening, we're good to go."

"Wow" gasped Lindsay "This definitely beats deep fried tarantulas." Lindsay turned to look at Danny who was pulling a basket and blanket from the car. Her eyes lit up.

"So this is what you did with your day off? We're having a picnic?" she grinned "I love picnics! And I love you for remembering!"

"I remember everything you tell me, come on test me." He laughed as he led the way through the zoo.

"Okay then, I accept your challenge, what's my favourite flower?" Lindsay asked.

"Lilies, and daisies, but you hate the way lily pollen sticks to all your clothes, which is what this mark here is." He answered pointing to a faded orange stain just above the elbow of her jumper. "And you love the simple beauty of daisies, and how it has too much of said beauty to be called a weed." He finished.

"I am well and truly impressed, although I am curious as to where this romantic streak has come from cowboy, the next thing I know you'll be making mixed CDs of my favourite songs!"

"We're here." Danny interrupted as he lay the blanker down on the patch of grass behind the tiger enclosure. "Want to know something else I remember?"

"This was where we first met, in that cage there." Lindsay smiled at the memory.

Danny laughed, "Yup, you were wearing that pink shirt and you were so nervous about your first day, I don't suppose I helped much."

Lindsay punched him playfully in the arm "Yeah, I was getting dagger stares from Mac for the rest of the day thanks to you!"

Danny and Lindsay continued to reminisce as they ate a picnic made for two.

* * *

A while later Lindsay was sitting on the grass staring at the stars, whilst Danny went to put the basket back in the car. He returned with a CD player in his right hand and a CD in the other.

"You know what you said earlier about mixed CDs?" he grinned as he set the player down and pressed play.

_We watch the seasons pull up it's own stage  
Catch the last weekend of the last week  
_

Lindsay s smile broadened as the song played.

_Before the gold and the glimmer has been replaced_

"May I have this dance?" Danny extended his arm.

_Another sun soaked season fades away_

Lindsay accepted and they moved slowly to the music.  
"Not that I don't appreciate all this, cos I do, and I love how much effort you've put into this, but why tonight Danny? It's not an anniversary or anything like that, so why go through all this trouble?"

The song came to an end as Danny stopped moving, it was now or never. Another song began to play and he looked into Lindsay's eyes.

_We'll do it all, everything,  
On our own_

"Lindsay, every day I know you I fall more and more in love with you. I love the way you laugh like a four year old when you find something really funny."

_We don't need anything,  
Or anyone_

"I love the way you look better in my sweats than I do. I love the way you have to stand on tiptoes to kiss me. I love the way you call me cowboy. I love the way you smile. I would fly across the world for you, if i meant seeing that smile. And that's all just for starters, I love you Lindsay Monroe, I really do. And I want to keep falling in love with you every day for the rest of my life."

_If I lay here  
If I just lay here_

Danny knelt in front of Lindsay and looked into her watering eyes and pulled out the pre chosen ring. "Would you make me even happier than I am now and marry me?"

_Would you lie with me  
And just forget the world?_

Lindsay gasped, by now her tears were free flowing down her cheeks. "Of course I'll marry you, I love you so much" she sniffed.

_All that I am  
All that I ever was_

Danny's face broke into a smile as he slipped the ring onto her hand. Lindsay dropped down on the floor so she was facing Danny, and she brought her lips crashing down onto his.

"I love you Montana"

"I love you Cowboy"

_Is here in your perfect eyes,  
They're all I can see_

Lindsay spent the rest of the night lying in Danny's arms, admiring how the stars sparkled brighter in the New York sky than she had ever seen in Montana.

Danny spent the rest of the night holding Lindsay and admiring how his Montana's eyes sparkled brighter than the stars in the New York City sky.

_Let's waste time, chasing cars  
Around our heads._

**A/N 2: Thanks for reading guys, your reviews mean the world to me, and I appreciate them so much, I'll reply to any you send. I hope you liked this fic, and I want some opinions now, should I continue adding chapters to this fic? Or make a new one as a sequel? Only I don't think the title fits anymore..let me know what you think with the review please?**

**Hands out M&M cookies Thanks so much for helping me write me first fic!:)**


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